Just Give Me A Reason
by faded harmony
Summary: Just give me a reason, just a little bit's enough, just a second we're not broken, just bent; and we can learn to love again... "I don't serve Kronos," Thalia told him firmly. "I don't serve you either. I thought I knew you, Luke. Apparently I don't." Written for PJO Ship Weeks Numero Cuatro! 4 Luke/Thalia- Thaluke whatever. Song by P!nk ft. Nate Ruess. ANGST ANGST ANGST.


_**Ah sh- more depressing junk from me. Feel free to like, KILL ME NOW. **_

**Anyways. I'd like to introduce you to my friend music, music this is reader. Say hello to the poodle.**

**PJO Ship weeks is either super fluffy weeks or like super angsty sad weeks. Like wtf -takes out gun and points to head- WHOEVER CAME UP WITH THIS, YOU ARE GENIUESS BUT YOU ARE TRYIGN TO KILL MEEE. D:**

**I honestly found this song was a perfect like- representation of the whole Luke/Thalia thing. I love you P!NK! **

**Song: Just Give Me A Reason- P!nk ft. Nate Ruess (The guy from Fun:) - I just realized that made a smiley face LOL- oh sorry, Leo moment... Link: watch?v=Gwx4iTRLXG8&feature=relmfu**

**Disclaimer: Me no own Thalia or Luke. Uncle Rickhanger does! I'm really close to losing my sanity. 6 DAYS. SIX. DAYS. OHMYGODSFHdfksafgasfaSDGSHJd ghlsdhfsd**

* * *

_Right from the start_

_You were a thief_

_You stole my heart_

Thalia gave Luke the kind of smile that she knew made his heart melt. He returned the smile, and the bubbles in her stomach fluttered like frantic fireflies. It was the kind of thing they did just to make things seem alright.

_And I, your willing victim_

_I let you see the parts of me_

_That weren't all that pretty_

_And with every touch you fixed them_

"We're a family," Luke said. "We can take care of each other." He seemed so confident and unscarred. At least, on the outside.

_Now you've been talking in your sleep_

_Things you never say to me_

_Tell me that you've had enough_

_Of our love, our love_

Thalia felt a rustle next to her. She heard the light whispering of Luke's words against his pillow: "Rising...titans...evil...must protect..."

_Just give me a reason_

_Just a little bit's enough_

_Just a second we're not broken, just bent_

_And we can learn to love again_

_It's in the stars,_

"I see the Big Dipper," Thalia pointed into the sky. "There's Hercules. Ooh, I see-!"

"No glowing goats, right?" Luke asked cautiously. Annabeth peered her head between the two of them.

"No glowing goats," Thalia agreed. "Say Annabeth, do you know where the Little Dipper is?"

It was moments like these, when it was just them and the stars, Thalia felt that little stirring. When they were a family. When they were together.

_It's been written in the scars on our hearts_

_We're not broken, just bent_

_And we can learn to love again_

"Why did you leave?" Luke finally found the courage to ask.

Thalia's electric blue eyes seemed to glare into his soul, and he quickly backpedaled.

"Don't. Ever. Ask."

Thalia knew though. It was a tiny scar for her- like the tiny scar on the edge of her little brother's lip from eating a stapler. She remembered what he looked like. And sometimes, when Luke's head was turned, she almost pictured him with her. In a way, Luke was living to actually be the brother she lost. She still thought of Jason, but being with Luke was starting to cause her memories of him to be replaced with Luke's face instead- and Jason, her brother- the most important thing that had ever happened to her in her life.

_I'm sorry I don't understand_

_Where all of this is coming from_

_I thought that we were fine_

_(Oh we had everything)_

"We should go to Camp," Thalia argued. "I know you don't exactly like your dad, and I'm not a huge fan of my parents either, but he really is looking out for you. At your mom's-"

"Shut up. Now." Luke's voice had a dangerous edge of it, and Thalia shrunk away. With one final angry stare from beneath her untrimmed bangs, she turned away and went to go check on Annabeth.

_Your head is running wild again_

_My dear we still have everythin'_

_And it's all in your mind_

_(Yeah but this is happenin')_

"She's still there." Annabeth patted Luke's shoulder. He was sleeping, his eyes closed tight and his face caught in a stiff composure like he was in pain. The long inflamed scar ran up from the bottom of his cheek over his eye. Even looking at him like that made the young girl wince.

_You've been havin' real bad dreams_

_You used to lie so close to me_

_There's nothing more than empty sheets_

_Between our love, our love_

_Oh our love, our love_

Luke looked out over his bunk. He thought back to all the times he had alone with Thalia- all the things he wished he told her. How his mother had strange powers and his fate had scared him. He was scared. Now, more than ever, he wanted her back.

He was in the favorite spot of his in camp. The little shady spot underneath Thalia's branches, just at the edge of camp, where he could look out into the mortal times- and sometimes, just pretend they were still out there. Pretend they were still a family, and that nothing ever came between them. Pretend a silly game of lies and cheats. Pretend she was still with him.

_Just give me a reason_

_Just a little bit's enough_

_Just a second we're not broken, just bent_

_And we can learn to love again_

Thalia looked up at the boy she thought she once knew. The one she thought was her friend. "You're evil," she growled. "You don't deserve my sympathy."

Luke's expression turned to a cruel sneer. "Then you shall die."

She glanced one last time at her new friends- Annabeth, who was lying very close to death on the ground at the feet of Percy, who was straining under the weight of the sky.

"I don't serve Kronos," Thalia told him firmly. "I don't serve you either. I thought I knew you, Luke. Apparently I don't."

_I never stopped_

_You're still written in the scars on my heart_

_You're not broken, just bent_

_And we can learn to love again_

Luke held the backpack in his hands. This was his tribute. He could pay Thalia this respect, couldn't he? He tucked in the last supplies that they had together. On the top was a roll of photos he hadn't noticed before. It was the three of them in a photo booth. He saw a younger, much happier and unscarred picture of himself, and a grinning Annabeth, and most of all- a Thalia he loved. A Thalia he hadn't lost.

A Thalia that was still alive.

_Oh tear ducts and rust_

_I'll fix it for us_

_We're collecting dust_

When Luke looked out on the water, he didn't see the reflection of a calm, confident leader he thought he saw.

_Traitor_, the water hissed. _You betray your friends. You shall pay the price._

_What price?_ Luke thought back angrily. _My friends are as good as dead._

_I wouldn't be too sure of that,_ the water seemed to find his pain enjoyable._ Your friends never left you, Luke._

Thalia's face shown clear in the water, so real to him. Luke put his hand to touch her face, almost resolving in falling in himself, but when he touched the surface, the water surface broke and her picture dissolved like a mirage.

_But our love's enough_

_You're holding it in_

_You're pouring a drink_

_No nothing is as bad as it seems_

_We'll come clean_

"He's over here guys!" He heard the voices of several people. "Oh my gods, what happened-?"

"Patience Annabeth. Get an Apollo healer. He's going to be fine."

"But his face-"

Chiron's voice sounded soggy, and Luke stretched out his hand in a kaleidoscope perception of the world. He saw Thalia's pine tree bending and swaying in front of him.

"Thalia," his voice cracked. "I'm sorry."

"Ssh, child." Chiron's soothing voice tried to calm him. "You are safe here. You came back from your quest."

"Thalia," Luke repeated before he passed out.

_Just give me a reason_

_Just a little bit's enough_

_Just a second we're not broken, just bent_

_And we can learn to love again_

_It's in the stars_

_It's been written in the scars on our hearts_

_That we're not broken, just bent_

_And we can learn to love again_

_"Will you join me?"_ The chilling voice of the Titan echoed in Luke's mind. _"You have lost all you love- your father will not even intervene to save you from a terrible fate. He left you alone with your mother. Even Zeus let your best friends die. Join me, Luke Castellan."_

Luke felt an iron press against his chest. "I will join you," he said.

_"Ah,"_ the Titan said._ "Pleasure doing business with you, Luke. You will do great things. You will change the world."_

"One more thing," Luke said as he started to walk out of his dream. "Thalia was more than just my best friend."

_Just give me a reason_

_Just a little bit's enough_

_Just a second we're not broken just bent_

_And we can learn to love again_

_It's in the stars_

_It's been written in the scars on our hearts_

_That we're not broken just bent_

"Will you join me?" Thalia stepped back and almost fell over, appalled.

A Hunter...of Artemis...

"Yes." She felt herself saying. Her body screamed YES! but the tiny twinge of regret in her heart, the one that still longed for her best friend from so long ago screamed No!

Yes, she finally decided. It was time to let go. Luke betrayed her in the end. She could live with letting that go. She could forget him.

But even that tiny lie in her mind didn't white-out the truth- she wouldn't forget him. He was as permanent as something in her life could get. It felt like he had written his name on her heart with a Sharpie- and no matter how hard she tried, it wasn't coming off.

_And we can learn to love again_

_Oh, we can learn to love again_

_Oh, we can learn to love again_

_Oh oh, that we're not broken just bent_

"Please Thalia?" Luke begged. He pressed his hands against the floor and lowered his head. "Can you forgive me?"  
Thalia's cold piercing eyes seemed different now, he realized. They were much older, and a lot more intimidating. The Hunter's glow around her shown even more evident in the cover of darkness.

"Give me a reason, Luke." Thalia told him as she tilted her head in the other direction, as if he was no more than a troubling pester she wasn't going to swipe at. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction either. "Give me just_ one_ good reason why I should take out my spear and kill you myself. Right here, right now."

Luke picked his head up a little bit, but it was the little spark of hope he had been waiting for. "For us." He said, reaching his hand out after her. "For what we had."

His hand dropped half-way when she didn't move. "I'm sorry Luke," she actually showed emotion in the next words, unlike the mask she kept on in their other conversations. "But I am going to need a better reason that that. I'm sorry."

She turned all the way around, until Luke only saw the back of her head and it vanished in the darkness.

It was what he had been expecting. He had tried- oh, he tried- first Annabeth to see if she might have some of her old spirit left in her- run away and let the world figure itself out. But he knew what held her back. That despicable excuse for a hero- _Percy_- he had changed her somehow.

_And we can learn to love again..._


End file.
